NASA is planning to have American astronauts to step on the planet Mars by 2039. Part of the plan of NASA is to test flight for the second time their flying saucer's parachute in Hawaii.
The original schedule was supposed to be last Tuesday, June 2, between 1.30pm and 3pm (EDT), and Jet Propulsion Laboratory engineers rescheduled it last June 6 at 1.30pm (EDT) as planned to go above the Pacific Ocean.
The first try NASA did was last year, but it didn't go as planned. The Flying Saucer's parachute meant to slow down the spacecraft before it will land, malfunctioned after it was released.
NASA's flying saucer that will help take the astronauts to Mars is officially called LDSD (Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator).
Mark Adler, project manager for LDSD at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California said: "This year's test is centered on how our newly-designed supersonic parachute will perform. We think we have a great design ready for the challenge, but the proof is in the pudding and the pudding will be made live for everyone to see."
The LDSD (Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator) or the flying saucer looks like a 15ft wide disc that weighs 7,000 pounds. A rocket is situated directly below and a white colored dome on top.
The flying saucer/spacecraft is set to land gently on Mars. A similar task like the Viking spacecraft landing on Mars in 1976.
A NASA spokesman stated: "As we plan ambitious robotic science missions to Mars, laying the groundwork for even more complex human expeditions to come, the spacecraft needed to land safely on the Red Planet's surface will become larger and heavier in order to accommodate explorers' extended stays on the Martian surface."
In addition, NASA plans to have more investigation about Mars by March 2016. In doing so, they will use - an Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport, a car like size Mars lander called the 'InSight.'
